Roadmarks

This is an imaginative and entertaining minor novel, and one of the better books I've read by Zelazny, who somehow managed to write well without ever producing a masterpiece.In [b:Nine Princes in Amber 92121 Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber, #1) Roger Zelazny https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416090973l/92121.SY75.jpg 1383240] he imagined a man driving a car sideways in time, across parallel worlds; and in this book he imagines people driving assorted vehicles forwards and backwards in time, along the secret Road made by the dragons of Bel'kwinith.But this is not a story that goes deeply into time travel. It's the story of a man who travels the Road in search of his destiny, pursued by friends and enemies who don't understand him or his destiny; nor does he.The bizarre things that happen on the way, during his quest, make up the story, although they're not really important in the long run, they're just incidents from which he could tell anecdotes, someday.Sometime in his travels, he accidentally fathered a son, who accidentally discovers the Road and uses it to search for the father he's never met. The son's story particularly appeals to me, although it takes up only a few small parts of the book.The book seems to me like a promising draft that could have become the start of a series of good novels, if Zelazny had been able to make something more substantial out of his initial ideas. But I think the dragons were not a good idea: they're too big and too vague and too powerful. They're not really interesting, there isn't much he could do with them. I wish he'd thought of some other reason for the Road to exist, and some other destiny for Red Dorakeen.

Inventive, and absorbing, and fun! I didn't want it to end. I would go on many adventures with these characters. I now get the whole ‘chapter numbering thing'. 😉 
I love any and all robot friends. Especially those who manage to foil dastardly plans in hilarious fashion, and/or sass the main character as frequently as necessary. 
There are these hints at world building, it's not that the reader doesn't get a good enough understanding of the nature of the road, its travellers and surrounding infrastructure, it's just all so nifty I'd have loved to dive into it more. 
Anything that has the whiff of weary immortals, I think is just fascinating to us mortals, the ultimate unproveable hypothesis, what would it be like, how would you feel after so long, moving from experience to experience, searching for a sense of completeness. 
I love that it managed to weave in a discussion about that age old question of whether you would want to know who you were if you lost your memory, if you had past lives, if you were unsure of whether you were a better person now, and up the stakes by sci fi or fantasy methods that allowed for a gradual address of fears about if memories come back, will the you of now be subsumed or can you incorporate who you were into who you are now in a fight for continuity in sense of self. Chilling but captivating. 
There is so much here I could gush about, but I don't want to reveal all because I want you to read it! 
Great mix of scifi and fantasy. Definitely a favourite for 2024, and keeps me interested to read more Zelazny, because I keep bouncing between misses and major hits with this author! 💁🏼‍♂️
So happy I got recommended it by my Dad. 
Lovely Fathers' day read ♥️.